Where the Heart Is
by TurtleMoose19
Summary: By some chance, Jack's little sister Charlotte ends up on the island. Will the girl's presence keep Jack from going savage, or just egg him on? Rated for language. Used to be called "Charlotte" but I changed the name.
1. The Swimmer

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Flies, and I wouldn't want to…I'd be too afraid I'd screw up the 3****rd**** greatest book ever. THAT'S WHY ****GOD****DARWIN****GOD****DARWIN****GOD****DARWIN**** SOMEONE INVENTED FANFICTION!**

**Chapter One: The Swimmer**

Finally, a perfect day for hunting. Finally, the hot air was cooled by a breeze. Finally you could hear the pigs squealing and track them down easily. Finally everyone was here and on task.

And finally they had to stay back to tend to the fire.

"God dammit!" Jack yelled out to no one in particular. "Who does Ralph think he is, anyway? Always telling me what to do! Always telling _us_ all what to do! And then he eats the meat that he yelled at us, not 40 minutes earlier, about hunting in the first place! Why, if I were chief…"

Jack continued grumbling to himself. The rest of the boys up there had gotten used to it. They stoked the fire and ignored Jack's rants. Finally, Roger stood up. "Jack? Take it easy man, it's just one day, I mean you volunteered for the fire in the first place so…" Roger faded out as he saw the expression Jack wore.

Jack went back to grumbling among the rock he was perched on, a ledge about 3 feet higher than the rest of the boys.

"Jack! Jack!" All five boys on the mountain by the fire heard the identical voices of Sam n' Eric echoing as they climbed up the mountain. "guys, don't…" Simon started, but the twins dashed past on either side of him, panting they huffed out a very unclear message.

"Jack—"

"—we saw—"

"—in the water—"

"What did I tell you about this beast nonsense? I'm not in the mood for your dumb-ass games!" Jack roared

"Not a beast—"

"—a person—"

"—in the water—"

"What? That's impossible," Jack said dismissively. The twins were now breathing slow enough to speak in full sentances.

"It's true, we saw it, all of us!"

"Who's all?" Simon pondered aloud, anything to calm the twins down so as not to disturbed Ralph.

"All of us! Down at the beach by the huts," one of the twins answered.

"Jack, look! You can see from here," the other one yelled, brushing past Jack and peering over the tall rock. Out of mere curiosity, Jack glanced over, too.

"Huh, so you can. Now go run along and tell Ralph."

"Ralph can't…"

"Swim." The twins said meekly; Jack, Roger and Maurice chuckled.

"Oh, I get it. So when I want to swim or hunt or bring food to the group, I get to stay behind and supervise the fire, here. But, oh no, just when I was starting to enjoy this, poor Ralph is running to me to help. Well let me tell you something," Jack hopped off the ledge and pinned the twins, one with each arm, to the rock, "you want me to help? You can go tell Ralph that he can come up here and _beg _for help himself."

After a frightening glare, Jack released the squealing children and sent them tripping and tumbling down the rock and stumbling through the woods all the way to the beach. At this time, Roger had taken a spot at Ralph's side, peering over the rock toward the weak looking, but apparently very strong swimmer, struggling in the ocean. "Hey Jack," Roger began, "I think that's a girl…and a I _think _she's kinda hot. Dibs."

"Hah, watch it be a guy." Maurice chuckled from by Simon and the fire. Roger chucked a stone at his head, but instead it landed on the ground on the other side of Simon.

"Nice aim," Jack snorted.

"Jack." The voice came from the edge of the huge platform that the fire and Jack's perch were nested on.

Jack sighed. "Ralph."

"Jack, someone is down there. Don't you want to go home? Don't you want to help someone who needs help? How can you sit up here and be so selfish?!"

"Always the martyr, Ralph, but no the wisest one around. If we were going home then who ever that is would not be swimming. They would be on a boat. Or a plane. Or some other form of non-land-based transportation. Plus, I think you would've learned by now that no, I don't want to risk my life to help that person I've never met!"

"Don't be so self-centered!"

"I'm not! I'm thinking of all of you! This island couldn't function without me and you all know it!"

"Yes we could!"

"Fine, then you can go save that girl."

Lost for words, Ralph lamely muttered the first thing that popped into his head. Anything to change the subject even slightly. "How do you know it's a girl?"

"We don't," Jack replied, startled by the question and its randomness. "Roger thought it looked like a girl. But we don't know."

"She'd have to be a pretty good swimmer," Simon spoke for the first time, encouraging the subject to take the pacifist route. Everyone looked at the silent boy on the log by the fire. "Well she—or he, or whatever—has been swimming for over an hour straight in the ocean. "

"Jack, please?" Ralph begged, "go help her." So the gender-non-specific swimmer was a girl now?

"Jack was enjoying the begging. "Why?" He asked, "why do you care so much about someone you've never met?" Jack was truly, honestly curious; something quite rare for him.

"Because I'm sick of all of you! The dirty, painted faces marked with the island. You can't change it! No one can! We've all lost hope! All I want is to look into someone's eyes and not see that same tired, helpless expression that I have! Is that so much to ask?!" Ralph finished, panting.

Jack realized he was right, and yet Jack was Jack, and Jack doesn't give up without a fight.

"You have to watch the fire for the next three days."

"Done." The answer was almost immediate. The two shook hands.

With a deep sigh, Jack leapt down from the rocks and began to trotted through the forest to the beach.

As he jogged, Jack thought about the swimmer and immediately felt very selfish. How could he let someone swim in Deep Ocean for over an hour? And, probably more than that since there was no land in sight from any direction at any point from the island. He or she must've swam longer than he could ever imagine swimming.

Secretly, Jack hoped the swimmer was a girl, though he would never tell anyone. Really, it wasn't to flirt or call dibs or have the only girl on the island like Roger wanted. No, Jack just wanted a new face. Someone different, like Ralph had said. Someone with more personality than the lifeless toad-children that inhabited the island.

The green blurs at the sides of his eyes were filling suddenly with light, as the forest ended and the beach neared.

Jack thought about what girl could possibly swim like that. A few of his friends back home could swim, but he doubted they could swim that long in such awful conditions.

Finally, Jack reached the beach. He kicked of his old ratty sneakers by the huts, and felt the warm sand in his toes. He left his stained muddy shirt by his shoes and let the sun beat down on his toned back and chest.

Dodging the waves in the warm Caribbean-like crystal clear water, Jack dove into the water, followed closely by the eyes of the littluns on the beach and the older boys' eyes from the rocky ledge above.

Jack noticed that the littluns were not playing in the water when he got there. The tide must've been stronger, lovely.

When he was up to his waist in water, Jack stopped and glared into the sunlight, searching the water for the figure. Then, stroke by stroke, Jack pulled his way out to the swimmer on the horizon. Every step felt like he was going no where, and many times he considered giving up. But then he thought of how much further than him the swimmer has gone, and he pressed on.

Finally, when Jack was hanging by a thread, desperate for land and to quench is hunger and thirst, Jack saw the figure again, not too far away. With the last energy he had, he reached the swimmer.

There was no time for talking; the tide was pulling them further and further out. The swimmer, he could now tell, was a girl. She had long dark blonde hair, tangled and matted by the waves, and her eyes were squinted against the sun, so Jack had no idea what color they were. Wrapping one arm around her waist, Jack towed her back to shore, the both of them coughing and spluttering the long journey back.

About 25 minutes later, Jack and the girl reached the shore. Walking only far enough back so that they wouldn't be pulled in by the tide, the two collapsed on the beach, greeted by Ralph, Simon, and Roger. Piggy and Maurice were somewhere on the other end of the beach with the littluns, but nobody really missed them. The mysterious girl was given water, which she chugged down, and immediately fell asleep on the warm sand.

Jack never fell asleep, he wasn't tired enough, he just lay out on the shore next to the girl, staring up at the blue cloudless sky. Something was haunting him; the girl looked so very familiar. So familiar he thought it was screaming the answer at him, but he had no idea what it could possibly be. He wished she would open her eyes. He felt sure that he would know who it was then, or if he even knew the girl at all.

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The girl woke up juts as the sun was setting, remembering very little. She knew she was swimming in the ocean, and she knew why. She remembered someone pulling her to the island she had been trying to reach all day, but she didn't remember who it was. She couldn't see a face. She almost fell asleep swimming to the shore. She remembered crawling up the beach, and falling asleep. Which brings us back to now.

Jack was already gone, no longer laying by the girl's side. He was back at his rocky ledge, watching Ralph struggle to light a fire and cook the pig that his hunters caught after his deal with Ralph that day.

The girl sat alone on the beach, observing the small leaf-made tents that were sprawled around. A half-empty water bottle sat by her side, and she took a long gulp. More than anything, the girl wanted to watch the sunset, but she knew that if she was to find the boy who dragged her to the island, she had to do it with light. And she knew she couldn't wait until morning. Sighing at the beginning of a promising Caribbean sunset, she walked aimlessly down the beach, calling out, "Hello. Anyone? Where are you? Where'd you all go?"

As she got closer and closer to the rocks, the boys began to hear her. "Stay there," Ralph called. He stood up and began to climb down the ledge when Jack cut in.

"Nuh-uh. You still have a fire to light. And you better do it before dark," he smirked. Grumbling, Ralph headed back toward the fire, and Jack climbed down the same way, followed by Simon's watchful eyes.

"Where—where are you?" The voice asked softly. Jack hopped down lightly from the rocks behind of her.

"Right here," Jack whispered.

"Oh! You scared me," the sun was almost set and she could barely see a thing. But she thought she recognized the sweet face studying hers the same way.

"Wait, _Jack?" _

"…yeah—you're not, I mean…Charlotte?"

"Yeah," she whispered, tears gathering in both of their eyes, "that's me."


	2. Campfire Stories

**Disclaimer: Yet again, I don't own Lord of the Flies. **

**Jack: That's cuz I do! I own everything! I RULE THE WORLD! *eye twitch* *pokes Simon with large pointy stick* Ha-ha. Hee-hee. Ha-ha.**

**Simon: Quit it!**

**Also! A Quick Note: I just want everyone to know that this story is NOT when it was originally supposed to be set. You will find out from the dialogue and from what Charlotte is wearing that this is NOT the '40s. So please, no reviews telling me what the '40s were like.**

**Chapter 2: Campfire Stories**

Without warning, Jack picked up the girl named Charlotte and spun her around until he clumsily tripped and they both landed on their backs in the cooling sand. They lay there, grinning, for what seemed like hours, and talked about nothing and everything, all at once.

***********************************************************

When Charlotte and Jack returned to the rocky ledge, Ralph had gotten the fire started and was slowly roasting a scrawny pig over it.

"Oh, gross," Charlotte began, looking away. Jack looked down at her and smirked, hugging her with one arm

"Sorry, but that's all we've got to eat, Charlie."

"So who is she, you're girlfriend or something?" Roger asked, feeling defeated. _Did dibs mean anything anymore?_

"Roger, no; this is my sister."

Well, that argument was down the drain. No hot girl for Roger. Damn guy code. Did it still apply on the island? Yeah, probably. _Sigh._

"Your sister?" Ralph asked, "your _sister _is the one you made swim for over an hour in the ocean?!"

"Hey! I didn't know it was her, okay!" Jack yelled defensively.

"Jack," Charlotte started, "It's okay. I'm fine," she said, looking up at him.

For the first time since that morning, Simon spoke: "Not to be rude but, where did you come from?" All eyes turned toward him. "I mean, you couldn't have dropped down from the sky," he said. "I'm Simon, by the way."

"Charlotte," she replied with a light smile

"Yeah, Charlie. How did you get here?" Jack asked. Just then, Piggy and the Littluns marched toward the group.

"Um, I'll tell you guys later…if that's okay," Charlotte started a little nervously. The boys nodded lightly and turned back to their conversations. Jack quickly introduced her to Maurice, Ralph and Roger. He also told her briefly of Piggy and introduced the Littluns as "The Littluns."

He led Charlotte to the top of the boulder that he had been sitting on that morning. The sky was dark and everything that could be seen was red with the reflection of the fire. Still, Charlotte had a pretty face.

Her skin was surprisingly pale after so many days in the sun, and her best friend used to tease her that she was a vampire. Her cheeks were covered in freckles that made a line across her nose. It was as if instead of color in the sun, she gained freckles. Her body was fairly toned from all the swimming she did. She barely resembled her brother at all, except that they had the same eyes; a gorgeous blue. Her hair had been cut in long bangs that framed her face, but the rest was long and spiraled into curls down her back. It was a bronze-gold color that shined in the sun. It was tangled and frizzy, though and she would kill for a comb. Her skin smelled of salt water that had become sickening to her. She desperately wished to bathe.

Charlotte was wearing a green dress. The straps were thick, but still sleeveless. The waistline came just below her bust like an empire waist. The rest of the dress flowed down to a few inches above her knee. She wore no shoes, because the flip-flops she was wearing fell off into the ocean days ago. She had already figured out that she was the only girl, but was happy enough to be with her brother.

The fact that she was the only girl bugged her, though. She hoped the Littluns wouldn't depend on her, or start calling her "mother". She really wasn't good with kids. Only the cute ones that she knew and loved; the neighbors and her friend's little siblings. And she wasn't about to sit around and take care of the little kids all day and cook food by night. So if that was what the guys wanted, they could forget it.

Finally, after a long pause for thought, Jack spoke.

"Charlie," he said softly, using her nickname, "I've missed you so much." Charlotte had been named for her grandpa Charlie, and so she was always called that by her close friends and her family.

"I missed you too," she replied. "Jack, I thought you were dead." Her eyes started sprouting tears. All Jack could do was wrap his arms around his sister and hold her close.

Sometime before the "tribe" had gathered for dinner, Charlotte stopped crying and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was silent through most of the meal and observed the people she was now stuck on an island with. She adored Simon. Quiet, and shy, yet he was sweet and honest and kind. She thought the twins, SamnEric, were absolutely hilarious, and they made her giggle every time they completed each other's sentence. She admired Roger, though she wasn't sure why. Did she take after her brother, and make friends with his friends? Or did she admire his courage and strength against the others? Or his rock-hard hot abs and lack of shirt? Yeah, abs were hot.

And to Charlotte, Piggy was the most annoying, useless lump that ever walked the face of the Earth. End of story. Then again, impressions can change.

And then there was Ralph. She _thought _she despised Ralph, but she wasn't quite sure. That was her first impression; that he was bossy and arrogant and hadn't the least idea of how to be a leader. But every time someone asked him a question, she found that every answer he'd given was what she would've said herself. So she told herself not to judge, but as the night wore on, the harder it got.

She observed the boys eating the scrawny pig, and shuddered away; it was not a pretty sight. She ate her piece, only because her stomach was grumbling to the point that she thought she might pass out. Everyone was just about finished with the "meal," and she sighed with relief. Soon, though, the Littluns were all running up to Ralph, chattering and telling the tales of their wild imaginations and mostly complaining about fear of the dark. Finally, the noise of the high-pitched whining got to her, and she buried her ahead against her brother's shoulder, groaning.

"What wrong?" Jack asked.

"If I hear one more freakin' complaint from these cranky little children, I'm going to _freak out._"

Jack sighed, and then stood up. "Alright, to bed all you kids."

"Jack!" The kids moaned in unison.

"GO!" He roared. As if the last school bell of the week rang, the Littluns scrambled up and zoomed down the cliff, sprinting to their huts. Ralph sighed in relief and threw an appreciative look toward Jack. The area was silent for awhile. Only the breaths of Jack, Ralph, Piggy, Roger, Simon, Sam, Eric, Maurice, and Charlotte could be heard, mixing with the wind. Charlotte was wide awake and had no intention of going to bed anytime soon. Her eyes, though, had other ideas. They were slowly drifting shut, despite her best efforts. Yet again, Simon broke the silence.

"Charlotte, are you going to tell us how you got here, now?" He asked. Startled by the sudden break of silence, and the call of her name, Charlotte's eyes burst open and her head snapped up.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…sure. Um, I don't really know where to start." _Here goes. _She told herself.

"Well, when Mom and Dad and I heard about the plane crash…everything fell apart. Mom was sobbing all the time. And Dad…he seemed like he wasn't even there sometimes. I don't know. And then we heard about this little boat expedition. They were taking all the families of the kids on the plane along the same route they went, only by boat. You know, to see if we could find any…thing. So Mom and Dad jumped at the opportunity, it gave them hope. Dad had a little spark back in his eye, and Mom started cooking and stuff again. We had only been on the boat a couple days. We were right by where you guys crashed and…"

A tear ran from her eye, but she reminded herself not to cry, wiped away the tear, and continued. "It was at night. We started to hear noises. Airplanes and loud noises; and then lots of shouts and screams. We all ran on the deck, and we saw a bunch of airplanes overhead, dropping small bombs. They hit the boat, twice…"

She continued the story of how the boat exploded, sparing the boys all the gory details, and how she couldn't find anyone, and the current was strong, and how the ocean forced her to get away from the scene. The boy's eyes grew wider and wider throughout the whole tale, and she finished that part with "but it was hardly over."

"I didn't know where to go or what to do. I swam with the ocean for awhile, and then I got really tired, and I thought it would just be easier to give up. After all, what did I have to lose? My mom and dad and Jack were all gone. I wouldn't see my friends anyway, I would never get home. What was the point?" Jack stiffened beside her.

"But I knew only one thing: I had an option. I could live, or I could die out there. I guess it's pretty obvious which one I chose. So I swam, and I just kept swimming. I was on the swim team back home, but I wasn't _that _good. I swam for two days, plus this morning until Jack dragged my sorry ass out of the water. I must've swum the English Channel twice! My dream, and no one will ever know…"

She trailed off into her own dark memories, ignoring the still wider-eyes of the boys around her. Finally, Ralph interrupted, irritating her out of her recollection. "That's impossible, you'd need food and water and you'd have to be a damn good swimmer!"

"People can go weeks without food, it rained the second day, and I swam real slow."

"But that—" Ralph began, but Jack cut him off.

"Enough. It's late; we should all get to bed. Who's watching the fire?"

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About half an hour later, everyone was in bed, except for Piggy, watching the fire, and Jack and Charlotte, discussing the evening's tales. Actually, Jack was doing most of the talking. And lots of the pacing back and forth.

"Charlie, you're…I mean, you're only kidding right? You didn't swim that whole way. I'm so sorry I—"

"Jack! Enough; for the billionth time it is _not your fault!_"

"Yes it—"

"Jack!" She gave him a warning look.

"Fine, fine. I'll shut up, but this isn't over," Jack noticed his sister yawn, and that her eyelids were fluttering shut. "You tired?"

"Yeah, a little," she sighed, and then looked up at her brother. "Jack, where am I going to sleep?" She pondered.

"Hmm, I was kind of wondering the same thing. Let's see…you hate whining kids, you hate Piggy and Ralph…" Charlotte blushed; she didn't mean to be picky, she didn't even tell him any of that. Amazing how quickly he picked things up. "You could sleep with me, I guess…" She raised her eyebrows. "and Roger and Simon, I mean," he finished quickly, and then mumbled "and Ralph…"

Charlotte sighed, "All right, fine."

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Back at the tent, the boys were surprised to find Charlotte stroll through the door to the hut, followed closely by her brother.

"Hey what's she—" Roger started.

"Rog, shut up. Where's she supposed to sleep?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Then it's in here."

"What's wrong scared of a girl?" Charlotte joked teasingly.

"Whatever. I don't even care just shut up and let me _sleep._" And that was the end of that. With a loud huff, Roger rolled over and was snoring before Jack and Charlotte could move. Jack led his sister over to an abandoned corner and then lay down near the other side of the hut, where a dent in the ground marked his spot like everyone else's did.

The sky was dark, the ground was hard, and the island was scary as hell. The flapping of bat wings echoed through the woods. The wind howled at the night and snapped the twigs. And whatever beautiful, fun and exciting things lived in the forest by day were whole different stories by night. Every time she closed her eyes there was something to snap them open again. Charlotte would never sleep. But she was exhausted!

She'd been lying on the cold ground for over three hours by now. Charlotte was hoping to just get so tired that she would pass out, but she couldn't even wait that long. Finally, she got up and silently climbed over the boys to the other side of the tent.

"Jack," She whispered. No response: "Jack!" She said louder. She covered his mouth with one hand, and dug her overgrown nails into his arm with the other.

"OW!" Jack yelled. Her hand did little to keep him quiet. The tent stirred, but no one seemed to wake up. Realizing who it was, Jack said harshly: "What do you want?"

"I couldn't sleep," she replied lightly.

"And you felt the need to wake me up because…?"

"Because I'm tired," Charlotte replied with a tone that was obvious in a sarcastic way.

"Then sleep!"

Charlotte was becoming very frustrated. "_Jack_," she whined.

"What are you, six? Let me sleep," Jack rolled over. Charlotte sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest, and sat by Jack. It hadn't even been five minutes when Jack rolled back over to face her and said, "Alright, come here."

Charlotte lay down next to her brother, with her back toward him. He was resting one arm over her stomach just above her hip. She would sleep well if she knew her brother would protect her from any danger. She was on the edge of sleep when Jack spoke again, making her eyelids flutter open.

"Charlie, you asleep?"

"I wish," she replied groggily. She knew her brother had something to say, so she rolled over to face him, a faint smile playing on her lips. "What is it, Jack?"

"Well, you said Mom and Dad were on the boat, right?"

"Yeah…"Charlotte replied cautiously. She didn't like where the conversation was heading.

"And that it didn't look like anyone beside you…made it?" He choked up at the end.

"Jack…" She couldn't look at his face, so she buried her head in his chest. Jack wanted answers though, and sorrow was turning to fury all too quick. He yanked her hair, making her look at him. "Tell me!" Charlotte was taken by surprise, she had never seen her brother really, seriously mad at her. And her head hurt from where he yanked it. She hesitated, and then answered after awhile.

"Yes, Jack. That's what I said," she paused sympathetically, "They're gone." He already knew, though. From the minute she hesitated, he already knew. A single tear fell down his cheek. Jack hugged her tight, surprising her again. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

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**So, what did you think? Please Review! I try to respond to all of my reviews and I want to make this story as good as possible! **

**Also, I know Charlotte is a bit of a bitch toward Piggy, but I hate him and I didn't want to make her flawless; she judges quickly and she doesn't like little kids. **

**Lastly, I want to thank Charlotte G. for letting me borrow her name. She is a cute little girl I know who was, indeed, named for her Grandpa Charlie. She is in no way what the Story!Charlotte is based off of, though. Except maybe the blue eyes, but Story!Charlotte has Jack's eyes so that's excusable.**

**Well, without further ado LA END! REVIEW PLEASE!**


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